News and Notes

During the University of Rochester Medical Center Board’s annual meeting, held in January, the board presented the 2010 Excellence Awards to employees who have demonstrated outstanding commitment to quality care. Six individuals and four teams were recognized for their unwavering personal and professional dedication to integrity, compassion, accountability, respect and excellence.

The awards are among the highest honors given to URMC employees and, of the ten presented, two went to an individual and team affiliated with the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center:

Jenny Speranza, M.D., Assistant Professor of Surgery and Oncology at URMC, received the Excellence Award in the physician category for providing compassionate care to patients and demonstrating a commitment to quality with colleagues. A colleague pointed out that one day, after more than 15 hours of surgeries, Speranza visited an anxious patient and took a great deal of time to calm her worries, demonstrating that the human touch is key to recovery.

The Bone Marrow Transplant Unit received a Team Excellence Award for its ability to provide life-saving care and a welcoming environment to patients who are often hospitalized for several weeks. Program leaders Gordon Phillips, M.D., Jane Liesveld, M.D., and interim Nurse Manager Tammy Clarke, R.N., praised the team of clinicians for its commitment to making the process of undergoing a transplant as positive as possible for each patient, as well as their families. In addition, the group hosts an annual picnic to bring patients together with survivors and provide inspiration and hope that patients will move past their cancers.

The study, The Association of Cancer with Geriatric Syndromes in Older Medicare Beneficiaries, found that elderly cancer patients have a higher prevalence of geriatric syndromes than those without cancer.

Lois B. Travis, M.D., Sc.D., recently had a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The study, which involved approximately 28,000 men, found that men diagnosed with testicular cancer after the age of 40 have twice the risk of dying from the disease. Dr. Travis joined the Wilmot Cancer Center faculty in 2008 and is a Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology and Director of the newly established Rubin Center for Cancer Survivorship at the University of Rochester School of Medicine.

Becker

Jordan

Researchers Craig Jordan, Ph.D. and Michael Becker, M.D., published an article:Leukemia stem cells in 2010: Current understanding and future directions, which appeared in Blood Rev 2011 Jan 7.